New Zealand's Darkest Day

As most of you know by now, last Tuesday there was a 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch. I didn't physically feel the quake, but I can certainly feel it's impact now. There is an unmistakable and universal feeling of soberness, which clashes with the usual trends of Orientation week around the University of Otago. It is something that is not readily talked about out of respect for those that we have lost and for those who are still missing, but you can bet it's on everyone's minds. The first time it really hit was was two days after the quake. I was in a sporting goods store and while I was browsing through some of my favorite things, I overheard a few staff members discussing their coworker's mother, who was still missing somewhere in the rubble. 

At this point, there are 147 people that have been killed and still over 200 still missing.

But similarly to the state of the US after September 11th, it is clear that the earthquake is already bringing together the people of New Zealand. I'd be hard pressed to walk more than 5 minutes in any direction from my apartment and not find someone collecting donations. Not just dollar coins, but 10's, 20's and even 50 dollar bills I have seen stuffed inside the small plastic containers.

Sorry if this was a downer of a blog post, but I thought it was something that should be addressed.

First few days in Dunedin

So now that the dust has settled and I'm getting used to putting on my jandals (sandals) and going out with my mates (friends) for tea (dinner). To clear up any confusion about the URL of this blog, sheep and speights, I wanted up pay tribute to the two most common things in this fair country, sheep and beer. Speights is the favorite local brew of Dunedin. And according to a bus driver in Rotorua...

 "Sheep outnumber people in NZ 40 million to 4 million. For the moment they're scared of us, but is they ever turn on us we might have to call the US army."

Starting this post off right, below is a picture of me shot right outside our flat on a Sunday night. Those shiny spots to the right of the fire were a group of Campus Watch officers doing what they do best... watching.

On Saturday, we took a walk (a hike) up one of the local mountain, Mt. Cargill. There was about 11 of us that walked out about an hour to the start of the track (trail) and hiked up about 3 miles through some very diverse scenery. Initially, we made our way through some very tall pine trees, as you can see below.

The fairly rapidly the surroundings became much more jungle-y, somewhat like Jurassic Park and definitely something I've never seen hiking around NH. Finally, we made it into the fog which cast an eerie feeling over the group. Not too long later we reached the summit and were greeted by a giant television tower, not my ideal summit. 

On the way down, my friend Pete and I decided to do some free climbing on a clearly out-of-place boulder because we're hardcore like that. You can really see the fog effect in this one.

Going a little out-of-order, on the way to the mountain we passed Baldwin Street, which is famous for being the World's Steepest Street. The maximum slope is 35%, which may not sound too impressive until you see the pictures.

Of course, being the ambitious, able-bodied international college students that we were, we could think of no better way of marking the occasion than by running up the street. So we just started running, running of course being a relative term considering the extreme angle. With tourists cheering, taking pictures, and shouting words of encouragement, most of us made it up without stopping, myself included. Thanks God there was a water fountain at the top, it was a lot tougher than I thought!

Today, my flatmates and I headed out to Tunnel Beach, fittingly named. Here are some of the best pictures...

Thats all for now, stayed tuned for another fun-filled episode sometime soon!

Kia Ora New Zealand

Kia Ora! and welcome to Steve's New Zealand blog. I'll start by saying that I do not have a solidified intention of this blog, and don't intend to create one. However, I picture it as a way to keep those who are interested informed and also a way to reflect on what I have done here.

After 6 days here I am just now finding the time to sit down and write the first post. So it may be on the longer side, but just bear with me for this one. I promise I'll model the rest after children's picture books for those who don't like to read.

After a grand total of 20 hours in the air (which wasn't as bad as I expected it to be) I landed in New Zealand's largest city, Auckland. The first, and most unpleasant surprise was the heat and humidity. Anyone that knows me knows I love the New England cold, so leaving home at 20 degrees Fahrenheit and landing in a land at 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) was the first hurdle.

We had plenty of time to walk around the city and saw the Sky Tower, the largest man-made structure of the southern hemisphere. But I'm not really in NZ to observe the architecture so a group of us went to explore Albert Park, where we chatted with so

me locals. We saw some of the most amazing tree's in the park, below, which were strangely growing in harmony with palm trees.

The next morning we took a 3-hour bus ride southeast to Rotorua, where we checked into the Kiwipaka hostel, our home for the next 4 nights. Here I got to meet a lot of the 99 Australearn participants, about 60 of which would end up with me in Otago.

After unpacking, the first order of business was of course, to learn the famous Haka. The Haka is a traditional Maori (native NZ tribe) war dance to pay tribute to their ancestors, their family, and to their enemy, who they were about to kill and eat their corpse. all true. Recently, the Haka has gained a lot of attention because the All Blacks, NZ's national rugby team, perform it before every match. Take a look at the real thing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=qBQyxjP6hK8&feature=related), and let me know how I compare...

I can't believe I just posted that picture.

The next day a few of us went mountain biking and I learned how far I am away from being in shape. That's all that needs to be said about that.

However, that disappointment was short-lived because the following day was the highlight of the trip so far. We traveled to Waitomo and went spelunking, or cave-diving, and it was just incredible. We dropped about 300 feet below some compeltely unassuming hills to a world of glow worms, caverns, and underwater waterfalls. We got suited up in badly smelling wet suits, helmets, and gum boots (rain boots) and made our way down. The decent started with a nice 100-ft repel down a big hole in the ground and just got better from there. We repelled down a waterfall, free-climbed up rock faces, and crawled through holes that I would not otherwise been able to get through had I been about 40 pounds heavier.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to take my camera down there because then there would be no more pictures to put in this blog and it would get even more boring.

On the final day or Australearn orientation, we visited two model Maori villages. I would tell you what the first one was called, but maybe you can help me out...

The village was built in a volcanic crater and on top of active geysers and hot springs. It might have one day been a real village, but somewhere along the line it was transitioned into a textbook tourist trap. And it smelled like sulfur.

On the way back, our driver stopped at a reservoir for a quick swim, which is such an understatement. We were met with two 30-foot cliffs and an equally tall rope swing that caused 50 college students to act like we were 12 years old again.

Back at the hostel we all hung out and got to know each other a little more. From left to right, Pete Funk, Adriana, Jill, Lexi, and some ugly guy.

But that night we went an equally touristy Maori village, but there we had a Hangi dinner, which completely made up for it. A Hangi is a Maori feast consisting of lamb, chicken, sweet potatoes, and fish that was cooked in the ground by heating stones, covering them with the wrapped food, then covering it all with dirt. Below is a picture of them lifting the food from the pit. And honestly, after that I didn't even think of taking another picture because I was entranced with the food.

The next day we took two quick flights to Dunedin, located on the South Island and I was greeted with sun and more comfortable temperatures. I met my Kiwi host Caz along with three of my flatmates, one still to arrive.

In true New Zealand fashion, we started drinking around 4:00 and enjoyed the last of the sunny day. Some of Caz's friends came over so I got to finally meet some locals and talked over another beer or two. Around 9 we left for Pint Night at a local bar, Refuel, the name of which can still be read on my right forearm. We hung out there for a while and watched a really crappy band called Psychic Maps play, then left.

Turns out the real party all along had been right across the street. There I was lucky enough to witness my first New Zealand couch burning, and apparently a bottle-smashing competition. I of course only watched the festivities, along with some of Dunedin's finest police officers, who seemed content to wait for the fire to put itself out. Welcome to New Zealand.

Which brings me to today, when we had an info session about course registration then headed to the beach. Yes, I went to the beach in February, and it was awesome.

Okay, I've rambled on far too long. So if you made it this far, thanks for reading! Leave me a comment so I know whose reading!